


I'm Here; On the Mend, My Friend

by afrocurl



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Prostitution, Character Development, Charles Is a Big Dorkface, Developing Relationship, Emotional Constipation, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-31
Updated: 2014-01-31
Packaged: 2018-01-10 17:56:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1162766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was another escort in this hotel lobby that caught Erik's eye. But what came next was not what Erik had planned at all. He might actually blame his client who stood him up, but he can't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Here; On the Mend, My Friend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kageillusionz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kageillusionz/gifts).



> I bunnied myself based off [this photoset](http://rozf.tumblr.com/post/74272780673).

The hotel looked like any other in London - shiny well maintained floor and furniture that was soft and screamed of luxury - but while Erik was used to being the only one of his profession in the lobby, today there were two.

Another man, dressed in a suit that looked just a little too well-fitted, but still hung awkwardly against the shoulders and hips, was waiting in another chair in the lobby. He was nervous, but not overly so. But all the same, Erik wasn’t sure what to make of having another escort in the hotel as him, because it hadn’t happened before and because he wasn’t sure if there really was protocol for this sort of thing. Clearly there were no laws that said that only Erik and the men and women who worked for Sebastian could be here, and today proved that.

He didn’t say anything, however, and sat, fidgeting with the sleeves of his leather jacket and his button-down as he waited for a well-kept guy with short cropped brown hair and chocolate eyes to walk in. His client, some guy named Matt, was late and not just like a few minutes late, it seemed. Eyes casting around the lobby from time to time, Erik tried to see if there was any sign of his job. There was none, and there were no texts or calls from Sebastian (really Janos) to say that it had been cancelled.

The other escort looked around as often as Erik was, as if his John was also late. At least they had something in common then. Well, more than the obvious. Erik decided to try and start a conversation, so he stood up from his seat and walked over to the other man.

“Stood up?” he asked, his voice lower than normal to avoid alerting everyone to what he and the other man were doing.

“Seems like I am.”

“Same here. Why don’t we go into the bar, grab a table and drink a few?” Erik said that louder than his first question, because they were now out of the realm of “work” and looked like any two guys in a lobby.

The other man gave a quick nod, and rose from his chair and walked towards the bar.

-

The other man had a name, Francis, though Erik was sure that it wasn’t his real name. Erik’s usual cover was Max, which he gave as easily as he did with all his clients.

But that was where the drinks stopped feeling like a job. Francis was intelligent - well hidden behind his deportment - and had the most horrible puns Erik had ever heard. At least five of them slipped from Francis’ mouth in the first fifteen minutes that they were seated next to each other at the bar.

“Those work on people?” he asked, because he couldn’t believe that DNA jokes were ever a way to ease a conversation into sex.

“Three of five times, yes,” Francis said before he took a sip of his scotch. Erik caught Francis’ eyes following the line of his body and he let a small smile curl in the corner of his mouth to show that he saw Francis’ interest.

“That is -” Erik started before he couldn’t finish the sentence without laughing. He set his own drink down on the table and pushed back into the booth. 

“What?” Francis was inching closer to where Erik was reclining and looking as if there were something else afoot in their conversation.

“Whatever I say to finish the sentence will offend you and your partners. I know better than that.”

Francis moved closer still and then whispered, “But what if I actually tried another one on you? Upstairs?”

It caught Erik off guard, but it shouldn’t have given the looks Francis had given him before. They were each in a profession that demanded that they be easily comfortable with other people in no time and that they were always willing. He smiled before he thought to answer. “Did you have a room in mind?”

Francis only winked and moved away from Erik’s space. Gracefully he was off the booth’s plastic and giving a come-hither look that Erik found equally charming and disorienting; he wasn’t used to being seduced and he felt it acutely now. Erik had no other appointments today and it seemed that they were both willing to forgo best business practices. Erik was out of the booth and followed Francis back into the lobby and up the elevator towards some standard hotel room before he even knew what had happened.

-  
Francis had a key nestled into his jacket pocket and pulled it out as if there was nothing off about going to this room with Erik, rather than Francis’ original John. It made Erik wonder how often Francis worked, because now that they had had two drinks, everything about Francis had shifted. He was now less nervous, stood a little taller, and had a voice that was commanding, but not controlling and Erik only felt himself fumbling into the room just after Francis.

Erik was pushed into the door, just after Francis had closed it and his face was inches away from Erik’s neck in this position. “You’re -” Francis started to say before he brought his lips to Erik’s and kissed - not soft but not rough - and Erik responded in kind. It felt so different from every other job if only because he had a rule against attaching too much to each man. But there was something in Francis that made him want to change. All those ideas translated into something Erik rarely did: his body letting go and _feeling_ everything about Francis’ ministrations.

The kiss broken, Francis’ breath against Erik’s cheek, a hand ghosting down his torso towards his belt and fly. It was everything that he missed when he had sex with clients; he was far too concerned with making them happy at each session than feeling truly good himself. “What are you doing?” was all Erik could say when Francis’ hand cupped Erik’s growing hardness.

“Giving you what you need,” Francis said through a moan, and Erik could only nod his assent. Deft hands had already undone his belt and fly, and soon Erik moaned as Francis’ hand finally set Erik’s erection free.

Time passed, though Erik couldn’t remember anything that happened from being manhandled against the door to how he ended up with his back against the hotel duvet and Francis’ face inches from his. Francis’ legs straddled across Erik’s lean hips completed the image and Erik couldn’t process much. There was the sound of a condom wrapper being torn open and a pop of a bottle of lube and then Francis was riding Erik’s erection as if Erik’s whole body was a mechanical bull that Francis wanted to stay on.

Erik’s mind cottoned on to Francis’ movements soon enough and they two of them were thrusting and pistoning in a rhythm that brought Erik off far sooner than he normally did. He was amazed - and impressed - that he could find sex that different and equally struck by the idea that he’d been missing out on this for so long. His chest heaved with effort and used energy, and Francis slowly moved from around Erik’s body and onto the bed proper.

“That was amazing,” Francis said. “We should do that more often.”

Erik turned over and gave a look that said he didn’t think it was possible. “How? I don’t think you want to pay me, and I’d rather not pay you.”

“Well, why don’t we just see if we like to spend time with each other and go from there. Not about business.” Francis’ voice was calm and reserved.

“Then if that’s what you’d like, I think we should skip the pretense of assumed names. Don’t you?”

Francis nodded and then whispered, “My name’s Charles.”

“Erik,” was all Erik could say in response before he felt Charles’ hand rubbing against his chest. There was something that sounded appealing about a relationship that wasn’t based on exchanging money for sex.

For the first time in far too long, the idea of a relationship - of sex between equal in and out of bed - had an appeal, and not just the immediate appeal of enjoying sex off work. There was something in Charles’ easy smile and the way that his hands were still gripping Erik’s hips that spoke of something longer and lasting between them. Erik almost desired it in the same way that he desired a fine scotch after a long day. Hopefully Charles was of the same mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Fay and Kage for encouraging this and to Luni for the beta help.


End file.
